"The horse groomer, the sanitation worker, the people who grew up under the heavy boot of Jim Crow, the people who did not make it into history books, but they have a story; and those stories deserve to be told, because they lived."

Speaking to Digital Spy and other reporters backstage, Viola continued her praise of August Wilson's work and its significance in modern-day cinema.

"I think that often with African Americans, if you didn't make it into a history book, if you're not a walking social statement, than the story is not worthy to be told," she said.

"And there are times I want to tell people the fact that I am just a living, breathing person. I'm a woman. I'm sexual, I'm joyful, I'm funny, I'm tragic, I'm all of those things.